Teaching

I entered the world of education as an agricultural extensionist, facilitating training workshops on soil management, sustainable farming, and agroforestry for small groups of farmers. During this period I drew on the wisdom of Roland Bunch’s revolutionary book Two Ears of Corn: A People-Centered Guide to Agricultural Improvement, which integrates Paolo Freire’s popular education model into agricultural extension to create an alternative to the top-down, transfer of technology approach. As I moved from the field to the classroom, this model of participatory, hands-on, experiential education has been foundational to my approach to teaching. Understanding food systems, agriculture, and urbanization requires analyzing the intersection of biophysical and social processes. This is an inherently interdisciplinary task, and my approach to teaching follows suit. Learning is a truly social endeavor and I hope to expand the community of learning beyond the classroom. Hands-on experiences allow students to take the step to bridge theory and practice, to see with their own eyes, to labor with their bodies and minds, to act with and react to the world around them rather than standing to the side as the ostensibly objective observer. My classes have worked with community partners such as Verde NW, Emma’s Garden, Rosewood Initiative, City of Gresham Redevelopment Commission, Friends of Nadaka, Multnomah County Health Department, and the Urban Farm Collective. I’ve taught (or currently teach) the following classes: